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Cincinnati Reds Fall to Brewers In Spite of Jay Bruce’s Big Day

Despite the best efforts of Jay Bruce, the Cincinnati Reds were unable to overcome sloppy defense and an poor pitching performance in an 8-4 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers on Sunday.

Bruce went 2-for-3, launching — and I mean launching — two solo home runs that traveled a combined 916 feet. The first came in the second inning and put the Reds in the lead. He walked and later scored on a single by Tucker Barnhart in the fourth to double the advantage.

The lead seemed like one that would hold up, as starter Anthony DeSclafani was in a groove, allowing only two hits through four innings and retiring 11 straight. But everything came crashing down in the fifth.

DeSclafani allowed singles to the first two batters of the inning, though it looked like he’d get a much-needed double play when Nevin Ashley grounded a ball back to the mound. The rookie turned and fired toward second base, but missed everything and everyone, throwing the ball into the outfield. The miscue was compounded when center fielder Ryan LaMarre made a poor throw to third base that ended up in the Milwaukee dugout. Just like that, a play that should’ve been two outs turned into two runs, and the game was tied.

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Things didn’t get better from there for DeSclafani. He gave up four straight hits after the errors, including an RBI single by Khris Davis and a two-run double by Adam Lind which made it 5-2 and knocked the rookie from the game.

Collin Balester came in and loaded the bases, but kept the Brewers from inflicting further damage.

The Reds put a dent in the Brewers’ lead in the sixth when Bruce hit his second homer of the game and Eugenio Suarez followed with a another bomb to make it 5-4. The game would never get closer than that.

Poor defense haunted the Reds again in the sixth. Carlos Contreras retired the first two batters, and should’ve had a perfect inning, but Suarez’s 18th error of the year kept things alive for the Brewers. Contreras walked the next hitter, opening up the door for Lind to hurt the Reds once again with an RBI single.

The game was blown wide open in the eighth after Jumbo Diaz‘s worst outing since being recalled from Triple-A Louisville in mid-July. Diaz got himself into trouble by walking the first two batters of the inning, and couldn’t recover. Pinch hitter Martin Maldonado lined a ground-rule double to right field and next batter Domingo Santana made it 8-4 with a single.

Other Notes:

LaMarre left the game after suffering a strained right hamstring while running out a ground ball in the sixth inning.
The bottom of the Reds lineup did almost all of the damage as the five through eight hitters had all seven of the team’s hits, while the first four hitters went a combined 0-for-15.
With two walks, Joey Votto extended his ridiculous on-base streak to 36 games.

Up Next: The Reds will continue their road trip on Monday with a stop in St. Louis to play the Cardinals for the final time. A pair of southpaws will face off, with John Lamb starting for the Reds and Jaime Garcia getting the ball for the Cardinals. First pitch is set for 8:15 p.m. ET.

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